Light fixtures are, of course, well known, and often used, including for both direct and indirect lighting (where, e.g., the light is directed from the fixture toward a surface such as a ceiling or wall, where reflected light from that surface provides the desired light in the area). Such fixtures include, for example, point sources of light as well as linear fixtures providing source along the length of the longitudinally extending fixture.
Linear fixtures providing a longitudinal source of light, whether direct or indirect, have often been suspended fluorescent linear lamps, with mounting of such lights limited to the drop points available in the ceilings as well as requiring high voltage enclosures. Also, such linear lamps typically have a fixed length, and are often greater than 2.5″ in width and/or height, and therefore the length of the provided light is determined by the length of the lamp rather than the requirements of the area. Still further, shipping and handling (both during shipping and during installation) of such fixed length light fixtures can present problems, since most common transport services will not ship a package that is longer than 96 inches, requiring the end user to assemble a system in the field for lengths greater than 96 inches.
The present invention is directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems noted above.